“Life is serene” without the Internet, says arrested Anonymous member Topiary

Anonymous member Topiary, otherwise known by his real name Jake Davis, is out on bail and not allowed to use the Internet. He’s probably not even allowed to look at the Internet, and I bet there are people out there who would like him not even think about the Internet — but let’s not go down that Orwellian path.

He is blocked from what we see as an avenue to free knowledge and understanding. How does he feel? “Fulfilled.”

The young hacker, who was allegedly involved in the attacks on HBGary and Westboro Baptist Church recently plead guilty to “computer misuse under the banners of ‘Internet Feds”, ‘Anonymous’ and ‘LulzSec’. He also faces an extradition to the U.S. for similar crimes.

But, according to a blog post he wrote for The Guardian, he seems calm having shed the constant humming and interruptions — the side-effects of the Internet. Calm, while wearing an ankle bracelet, and awaiting a sentence that could include jail time.

It is not so much the sudden simplicity of daily life – as you can imagine, trivial tasks have been made much more difficult – but the feeling of being able to close my eyes without being bombarded with flashing shapes or constant buzzing sounds… Sleep is now tranquil and uninterrupted and books seem far more interesting.

He continued:

Our lives are compressed into short, advertisement-like bursts or “tweets”. The constant stream of drivel fills page after page, eating away at our creativity. If hashtags were rice grains, do you know how many starving families we could feed? Neither do I – I can’t Google it.

Topiary goes on to encourage “those in a similar situation,” to take a week off from the Internet as well. Perhaps this is a shout out to fellow Anonymous members, or other hackers, but it’s a thought we all could consider.